Hypertension
High blood pressure management in the workplace
Resources
Disease Profile:
Hypertension
About 65 million American adults have hypertension or high blood pressure. This chronic disease is so common that middle-aged Americans face a 90% chance of developing high blood pressure during their lifetimes.
Hypertension is often called "the silent killer" because you can have it for years without knowing it. In fact, this disease kills more than 46,000 Americans annually and is systemically linked to heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illness.
Hypertension is an increasingly important medical and public health issue, especially because so many sufferers are either not seeking treatment or are not compliant with their treatment. For example, of all people with high blood pressure, 11 percent are not on therapy (special diet or drugs) and 25 percent are on inadequate therapy.
Although hypertension is easily detected and controlled, it is becoming a major concern to employers because of its prevalence and costs. In the U.S., more than $55 billion per year is spent on hypertension, with 74% of those dollars involving direct costs such as hospitalizations, physician visits and medications.
High-touch intervention
The Focused Health Program is designed to help adults better manage their hypertension. They work closely with their nurse manager (hypertension and cardiac specialists) to understand their treatment, remain compliant with their medications, monitor their own blood pressure at work and home, and control their lifestyle risk factors.
Results
Over time, enrollees report having:
- Greater ability to track and manage
fluctuations in their blood pressure - Enhanced knowledge about their medications
and controlling side effects - Higher commitment level to their exercise
and nutrition plan - Reduced absences at work
- Fewer hypertension-related ER visits and
hospital stays
Data excerpted from the American Heart Association and
National Institutes of Health.